196 izAAK Walton's association with the river lea. 



he says, "where we shall find a cleanly room, lavender in the 

 windows, and twenty ballads stuck about the wall." 



A little further on he says : " At ' Trout Hall,' not far from this 

 place, where I purpose to lodge to-night, there is usually an angler 

 that proves good company." 



It was on their way to this hostelry that they fell in with the 

 milkmaid and her mother, who, at their request and in return for a 

 trout, sang that charming song, " Come live with me and be my 

 love," which Walton attributes to Marlow, but which the critics 

 affirm was composed by Shakespeare. So far as it can be traced, it 

 seems to have been first printed by Jaggard in 1599, in "The 

 Passionate Pilgrim and other Sonnets, by Mr. William Shakespeare," 

 although in "England's Helicon," published in 1600, seven years 

 after Marlow's death, it is given with Marlow's name attached, and 

 entitled "The Passionate Shepherd to his Love." 



But this by the way. Walton, in the character of Piscaior, on 

 greeting the milkmaid, exclaims, "I have been a-fishing, and am 

 going to ' Bleak Hall ' to my bed." This probably was a lapsus lingua:, 

 for he had previously mentioned " Trout Hall" as his destination. 

 Sir Harris Nicholas, however, in his edition of "The Complete 

 Angler" (chap, iv, p. 113), gives a view of "Bleak Hall," which 

 he describes as a fishing-house on the banks of the Lea, about 

 a mile from Edmonton, that is, at Cook's Ferry. But this 

 must be a mistake, for Walton's inn was above Waltham, whereas 

 Cook's Ferry was some miles l>eIow \t.^ Now, however, " Bleak 

 Hall " has disappeared, and the ferry has been superseded by a 

 bridge. 



These are some of the thoughts which crowd upon the mind in 

 connection with Izaak Walton and the River Lea. 



To inquire into the nature of the fishes he caught, or the tackle 

 he employed, would not only be beside our present purpose, but 

 would extend these notes to an inordinate length. Nor is it material 

 to discuss here the accuracy or otherwise of his observations in 

 Natural History. These have been pretty carefully examined in the 

 edition of "The Complete Angler,"' which I have lately published 

 through Messrs. Bagster, and which is annotated and illustrated 

 from the naturalist's point of view. But there is just one point upon 



5 ^^ Peter : But where shall we meet to-morrow ni!j;ht? for my friend Coridon and I will go 

 t(p the luater toivards Ware. 



Piscator : And my scholar and I will go doivn toniards Waltham. 

 Coridon : Then let's meet here.'' 



